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First Ward City Council Candidates Hold Second Forum

Questions were more focused and answers were more coherent at the second forum for First Ward City Council candidates last night. The forum was split into two parts, one for questions about development in the First Ward and one for questions about infrastructure. The questions went deeper and the audience held the candidates to their answers more than in the first forum, which was completely audience driven and was open to any topic.

“We need to take care of what we have first,” candidate Jake Loft said, responding to a question about population growth. The statement seemed representative of the whole evening though, with candidates and audience members focusing on how to manage existing problems before inviting new ones in.

Though all candidates vocalized their dedication to residents and willingness to listen, the audience didn’t seem entirely convinced, asking why only Clark showed up to a meeting of one first ward neighborhood association. The audience also had a lot of questions about how candidates would prioritize competing bids for their time between big-money out-of-towners (developers) and Columbia citizens.

All six candidates present expressed some form of disapproval of large-scale downtown development – mostly regarding the actions that have been seen so far in allowing and regulating development. John Clark suggested stricter enforcement of standards for development to keep new buildings up to snuff. Rob Rasmussen called for limiting tax incentives for these commercial builders without maximum-wage agreements. Jake Loft mentioned taking a closer look at issues like traffic and parking before agreeing to new structures.

Dan Rader was absent again, as was Sal Nuccio, who attended the first forum, and write-in candidate Chad Phillips, who entered the race Wednesday.

A third forum is expected on April 4, just before the April 7 election, at The Activity and Recreation Center (ARC).

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